Apple unveils brand new affordable Apple Pencil that costs $79 and has a USB-C port

Apple has today unveiled a new « affordable » Apple Pencil with USB-C that costs $79.

The company says the new Pencil is « ideal for note taking, sketching, annotating, journaling, and more, » and features the same matte finish and flat design as the previous model.

The new Pencil will be available in « early November » and will work with any iPad that has a USB-C port.

One big innovation is that it has an actual USB-C for charging, rather than a connector like the current models. You simply slide the cap off to reveal the port and then plug in a cable.

Apple Pencil

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple says the new Pencil has the « same advanced pixel-perfect accuracy, low latency, and tilt sensitivity, » although it looks like pressure sensitivity didn’t make the cut. Hover, however, will be supported when used with M2 iPad Pro models.

It does have a magnetic attachment to your iPad, but magnetic wireless pairing and charging are reserved for the Apple Pencil 2nd generation.

As noted, the new Pencil costs $79 and is coming out in early November. It’ll work with the Pad (10th generation), iPad Air (4th and 5th generations), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generations), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th generations), and iPad mini (6th generation).

We’d heard rumors Apple could debut new iPad models today including a new iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad 11th generation, which haven’t yet been announced. However, Apple has dropped multiple releases and products in one day before, so there’s still time.

While this is clearly a more affordable option at just $79, the second-generation Apple Pencil, which has been out for some time, routinely falls to sale prices of $89 in big events like Prime Day, and will likely be discounted again in the upcoming Black Friday sale.